this morning, finally free. >> prayers of the nation answered as the 5-year-old little boy held for a week underground is reunited, finally, with his family. new, overnight details in this week-long hostage saga. gun control. the presidential push for better background checks. a major problem is cost. but can the nation afford to do nothing? party time. it is parade day in baltimore. nearly spoiled. did the team really misplace the super bowl trophy? and after years of being a david letterman punch line, chris christie goes on "the late show," and has the last laugh.

good morning, everyone. the little alabama boy has been reunited with his mother after he was held captive by a killer for nearly a week. >> agents swooped in for the rescue after becoming worried that the child was in imminent damage. he's been checked out of a hospital. we get more, now, from abc's tahman bradley. >> reporter: this morning, the little boy held captive in an underground bunker for seven days is safe. ethan, seen in this photograph, celebrates his 6th birthday tomorrow surrounded by family. he was taken to a hospital for treatment. and is said to be physically unharmed. >> he's laughing, joking, playing, eating. the things that you would expect a normal 5-year-old to 6-year-old young man to do. >> reporter: the suspect, 65-year-old jimmy lee dykes is dead, after fbi agents stormed the bunker where the boy was being held. abc news learned authorities

inserted a high-tech camera into the bunker and monitored dykes' movement. they neutralized dykes when they thought he would come out. >> the child was in imminent danger. entered the bunker and rescued the child. >> reporter: the terrifying standoff began on tuesday, when dykes boarded a school bus. >> he said, i'll kill y'all. >> reporter: dykes shot and killed the bus driver. and snatched ethan. the boy was kept in an underground bunker dykes built behind his house. police and s.w.a.t. teams carefully negotiated through a ventilation pipe. they flew drones over his house, looking for signs ethan was arrive. authorities handled the situation slowly in order to keep ethan safe. >> you have to be extremely careful. any sort of device you might use against him could obviously harm ethan because he's right there.

>> reporter: interesting, the standoff extended beyond midland city, alabama. even president obama praised authorities for saving the boy. rob and diana? >> great news he made it out alive and right in time for his birthday. tahman bradley, live in washington. thanks, tahman. gun control, of course, is a top priority for the president. mr. obama took his message on the road yesterday, with a visit to a minneapolis police station. here's abc's jonathan karl. >> reporter: faced with an uphill battle in congress, the president took his campaign for new gun control measures on the road. >> we're not going to wait until the next newtown. >> reporter: the central component of the president's plan is requiring virtually anybody buying a gun to get a background check. but the audience in minneapolis has seen that that's not enough. last september, just a few miles from where the president spoke, minnesota suffered its worst ever mass shooting. the local sheriff met with

president obama and believes the current system simply misses too much. >> we've identified gaping holes in the background checks. it's really become what is america's dirty little secret about these background checks. >> reporter: last year, there were nine mass killings in the u.s. eight of the gunmen had a history of mental illness. background check is only as good as the database used to check a gun buyer's record. consider this. only 12 states actively submit mental health records to the federal database. the president has proposed fixing this by giving states money to improve recordkeeping. and by urging doctors to report credible threats of violence to law enforcement. mental health experts say the other key to addressing this problem is identifying and treating those with mental illness at a young age. the white house wants to give states the resources to do that. but that's going to require money. and it is also the kind of thing that will take a long time to show results. jonathan karl, abc news, new york. and the president is taking action on two other pressing national issues. he signed a deal to raise the federal borrowing limit,

preventing a short-term financial panic. and he meets with lawmakers on ways to reform the immigration system. an iraq war veteran remains on suicide watch as he sits in a texas jail cell. eddie ray ralph is accused of killing chris kyle and his friend on saturday. they used a stun gun on ralph on sunday when he was being unruly in his solitary confinement cell. a bipartisan group of alabama lawmakers is moving to exonerate nine black men who became known as the scottsboro boys. they were convicted of raping two white women. today, lawmakers will introduce a resolution to exonerate them. a second bill would lead to posthumous pardons. only one of the men was pardoned when he was alive. here, it was an all-star tribute to mayor ed koch.

clinton said koch had a big brain but a bigger heart. michael bloomberg said koch would be loving all the atntion he was getting from so many political heavy-hitters. koch died last friday, at the age of 88. >> boisterous he was. time for a look at the weather across the nation. rain from seattle to northern california. up to six inches of snow in the cascades and northern rockies. light snow around minneapolis, chicago, detroit and pittsburgh. also, snowing this morning from philly to boston. showers from houston to tallahassee. >> 70s in miami and new orleans. 20s from boston to minneapolis. 40s in the northern rockies. and 50s from seattle to sacramento. and coming up, a secret no more. meet america's youngest female billionaire, with a "b." >> i like that. hook me up. then, business news today. is it getting easier to borrow money? an important sign of economic recovery. and later on in "the pulse."

inspiration. meet the skillful skateboarder who happens to be blind.

welcome back, everybody. we are seeing the biggest weekly jump in gasoline in two years. the energy department says gas prices rose 18 cents in the past week to an average of $3.54 a gallon. americans now spend 4% of our income on gasoline. more than 2,900 bucks a year. that's more than anytime in the last four years. it should be easier to get a loan now. banks are slightly loosening their standards and lowering interest rates for businesses

and developers in hopes of generating more loans. a few lenders are offering better terms on car loans. economists say, it's a sign that the economy is improving. and the flu was bad for us. but good for clorox. the company had a big increase in earnings, thanks for strong sales of its disinfecting wipes and other products. clorox bleach is also doing well in stores. apple's upgraded ipad hits stores today. this version of the ipad 4 will be chock full of storage to the tune of 28 gigabytes. it will cost about 800 bucks for the wi-fi only version. but it will cost more for lte. a penny for your thoughts? maybe not. canada's decision to stop minting pennies have many wondering how long the u.s. coin could lost. it costs more than a penny to make a penny.

the canadian government is telling shop owners to round up their prices to the nearest nickel for cash transactions. interesting. imagine this. being a billionaire at 30 years old. owner of a wildly popular hamburger chain. bloomberg has blown the cover on lindsay torres. in-n-out burger, the chain with a cult following across the western states and texas. it was started by her grandparents. but torres had to take over when she was just 17. that makes her the nation's youngest female billionaire. that might have made her the youngest billionaire, period. 17. >> a hamburger fortune. must be nice. that young. a lot of life. >> and hamburgers for a lifetime. >> hamburgs and $1 billion in the bank. call me, girl. nice life. coming up next, two winning lottery tickets in the same day. meet these new millionaires, if your weren't jealous enough from the billionaire story.

>> there you go. plus, the game that everyone is still talking about. and new details on why those lights went out. ♪ let's go. ♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] introducing the all-new cadillac xts... another big night on the town, eh? ...and the return of life lived large. ♪ has twice the protein of regular lowfat yogurt. and at 80 calories, it's the lightest greek yogurt with fruit. with its creamy, thick texture you won't feel like you're running low on satisfaction. light & fit greek. be light and fit. and satisfied.

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drivers are wasting more time on the nation's congested highways. a new study finds americans now spend 5.5 billion hours sitting in traffic every year. washington, d.c., l.a. and san francisco have the worst commutes. surprised new york did not make that list. and speaking of roads, now, let's look at the road conditions this morning. weather-wise, anyway. it will be a wet ride from the pacific northwest to northern california. snow-covered passes in the cascades and rockies. a slick commute from the great lakes to the northeast. and wet roads along much of the gulf coast. >> if you're flying today, weather-related airport delays are possible in the following cities. chicago, detroit and here in

new york. after weeks of sensational testimony, a jury is hearing directly from jodi arias, the arizona woman who confessed to savagely killing her ex-boyfriend. >> arias tells the court she was abused as a child and claims she acted in self-defense. brandi hitt has more. >> reporter: good morning, rob and diana. jodi arias takes the stand this morning. now, jurors are expected to hear arias' explanation of what happened the night of that murder. >> did you kill travis alexander on june 4th, 2008? >> yes, i did. >> reporter: in a surprise move, jodi arias took the stand in her own defense. and explained to the jury why she brutally murdered her ex-boyfriend, travis alexander. >> he attacked me. and i had to defend myself. >> reporter: speaking quietly, with her hair pulled to the side, this is the same woman prosecutors say stabbed alexander 27 times in a jealous

rage. also slashing his throat, and shooting him twice in the head. but her story has changed several times. and in an interview with "inside edition," arias also said no jury would convict her because she was innocent. on the stand, she gave a new explanation. >> at the time, i had plans to commit suicide. so, i was extremely confident that no jury would convict me because i didn't expect any of you to be here. >> reporter: jodi arias' system and cross-examination is expected to take several days. if convicted, she could become the fourth woman on arizona's death row. rob and diana, back to you. >> thank you to brandi. records show the bus involved in that deadly crash in southern california sunday was cited for 22 safety violations. in the last year, including brake problems. survivors say the bus started picking up speed, going downhill. and the driver shouted for someone to call 911 because the brakes had failed. seven people were killed.

a bombshell this morning about that super bowl blackout in new orleans. get this. it turns out, officials at the superdome there in the big easy were worried about a power outage well before sunday night's big game. back in october, they warned the dome's electric feeder cables were decaying and could fail. improvements were made. but it is not clear what caused the outage over the weekend. the ravens are back in baltimore for their big parade today. the new lombardi trophy will be with them. get this. it was actually missing for several hours sunday night during the ravens' postgame party. and super bowl mvp joe flacco will be attending the parade, following his visit to disney world on monday. soon, he will sit down with ravens management and could end up scoring a $20 million a year contract. it's good to win the super bowl. >> and it's good to be joe flacco. time, now, for some hoops.

the highlights from espn. >> good morning. i'm zubin mehenti with your "sportscenter" update. the best in the east, taking on -- maybe not the best in the east. the bobcats and heat in south florida. dwyane wade steal, back the other way. miami looking for their tenth-straight win over charlotte. lebron james puts them up by nine. 1:30 to go. a two-point game. chris bosh puts miami up by four. they're starting a five-game home stand, are the heat. and it's off to a good start. the five-game home stand began with a five-point victory. hot on their heels in the east, carmelo anthony and the knicks. just a percentage point behind them, hosting the pistons at the world's most famous arena. carmelo had 27 minutes on saturday. he was nice and fresh. ready to go. second quarter. amar'e stoudemire had a great performance in that win over the kings. coming up. another big one here. knicks by 20.

then, felton, raymond felton, to tyson chandler. wow. great performance for him. knicks up by 22. who says carmelo and amar'e can't play together? finishing, one dishes to the other. still, an 18-point game. out of reach for the pistons all game long. felton/chandler again. knicks win by 14 in new york city. and that is your "sportscenter" update. i'm zubin mehenti. have a good morning. it turned out to be a very lucky fishing trip for one arkansas couple. take a listen to this. david and terry weaver stopped to buy a lottery ticket in little rock. they stopped at the same store and bought another ticket. the first ticket turned out to be a $1 million winner. the second one netted them $50,000. wow. >> amen. luck on your side like that, can't -- hey. >> i guarantee that whole trip, she was going, i don't want to go on this trip.

nagging him the whole way there and back. >> bet you're happy now. drive back in your benz. up next, "the pulse." punch line-turned guest. governor chris christie showing david letterman who really deserves the last laugh. and someone you'll be talking about today. he has the skateboarding skill. but what he doesn't have is sight. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ [ female announcer ] nothing gets you going quite like the power of quaker. today is going to be epic. quaker up. okay, we gotta time this just right. okay.

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new vidal sassoon lets you say no to compromise and yes to vibrant color like this. new vidal sassoon pro series salon genius. brilliantly priced. welcome back, everyone. it's time, now, to check "the pulse." these are stories we're going to be talking about all day long. we're going to start with tough-talking new jersey governor, chris christie. going head-to-head with david letterman. this was a must-see.

>> this is good tv. after months of being the butt of letterman's fat jokes, christie made his first appearance on "the late show." and he showed he is a good sport in all this. even reciting a few of letterman's jokes that he called his personal favorites. >> celebrity birthday today, chris christie turned 50. he blew out the candles on his cake. and he wished for another cake. >> i have made jokes about you. not just one or two. not just ongoing here or there, intermittent. but -- >> and he put it on the desk. >> that's right. down, governor. christie said he thought roughly 40% of letterman's jokes about weight were actually funny. >> that was good television. >> he's a good sport. he can laugh at himself. everyone likes that kind of self-deprecating humor. nicely done, governor. skateboarding can be a challenging sport. we all know that. even under the best

circumstances, requiring balance, coordination and even bravery. >> we want you to meet tommy carroll who has all that and then some. the northwestern university student has been blind since he was just a toddler. he spent hours honing those skateboaing skills, by listening to the sounds of the wheels on different kinds of surfaces. that's amazing. >> his message of empowerment has been seen more than 500,000 times on youtube. well-deserved attention, for sure. >> nice, nice, nice. and finally, a san francisco 49ers fan who was a lady of her word. she is larisa shaw. dressed in black. mourning her niners loss. >> she lost a bet that her team would win the super bowl. she had to take a pie to the face on-air from her co-anchor. she did it. but she's not done paying. as if this is not awful enough, shaw still has to dance outside of the station in a chicken suit.

it's a tough loss that keeps on getting tougher. >> you have to face your bets, man. >> that's right. >> a good sport there. >> that is ugly. for some of you, local news is next. [ male announcer ] considering all your mouth goes through, do you really think brushing is enough to keep it clean? while brushing misses germs in 75% of your mouth, listerine® cleans virtually your entire mouth. so take your oral health to a whole new level. listerin®... power to your mouth™. can be the worst part. my medicine alone doesn't always give me all the congestion relief i need to sleep.

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♪ updating our top stories. a little alabama boy is safe after being held hostage for nearly a week. police stormed the bunker where he was being held over fears the child was endanger. his captor died as a result. the president tackles another top priority of his second term today. he meets at the white house with the top leaders over the issue of immigration reform. and the baltimore ravens celebrate their super bowl title today with a parade through the city streets. it ends at the team's stadium, where a celebration will take place. looking at today's weather now. morning snow from boston to philly. snowshowers from pittsburgh to showing and minneapolis. showers along the gulf coast. we also have some rain. as well as mountain snow in the northwest part of the country. and finally now, an abc news

exclusive. it's about the inspiring, young girl targeted by the taliban, just because she wanted an education. >> abc's bob woodruff spoke to the girl's father about her surgeries and the challenges that lie ahead. >> reporter: malala's journey from this to this is nothing short of a miracle. and for the first time, people heard her voice. >> today, you can see that i'm alive. i can speak. i can see you. i can see everyone. and i'm getting better day by day. it's just because of the prayers of people. >> reporter: prayers and letters sent to this young girl who became a symbol of hope. she was just 12 when the taliban shut down her school. the public crusade began. >> i have the right of education. i have the right to play. i have the right to sing. i have the right to talk. i have the right to speak. >> reporter: her actions made her a target. last october, on her way home from school, she was brutally attacked. gunmen entered her van and shot

her at point-blank range in the head. she was medevaced to england in critical condition. but she refused to die. the bullet glanced off her skull, traveled down her cheek and into her shoulder. incredibly, it didn't enter her brain. malala was sitting up in bed after five hours of surgery this weekend, to repair her skull and damaged ear. she released a video statement, talking about her new fun. >> i want to serve. i want to serve the people. and i want every girl, every child, to be educated. and for this reason, we have organized malala fund. >> reporter: what are you trying to accomplish by the fund? >> our aim and our dream is to educate children. especially girls, because when you educate girls, you educate the whole family. you educate a generation. you educate all other coming children. >> reporter: the challenge is enormous. today, there are 32 million girls around the world who are not in school.